Very few people enjoy conflict. We crave harmony and peace. We even teach seminars on peacemaking and conflict resolution in our churches or institutions.

Read Matthew 10:34-39. What does Jesus mean when He says that He did not come to bring peace but to bring a sword? What does this mean, considering that Jesus is “the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6)?

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Jesus’ statement in Matthew 10:34-39 is shockingly counterintuitive. The Savior, who came as a helpless babe instead of a powerful king surrounded by elite bodyguards, who preached love to both neighbors and enemies, now tells His followers that He brings division and struggles. His disciples and His audience may have wondered, as we are wondering: How can this be?

Matthew 10:35-39 is really about allegiances and loyalties. Quoting Micah 7:6, Jesus challenges His audience to make choices for eternity. A son should love and honor his parents. That was a legal requirement of the law that Moses had received on the mountain. It was part of God’s required mode of operation; and yet, if that love would trump the hearer’s commitment to Jesus, it required a tough decision. A father and a mother should love and care for their children. Yet, if that love would top the parents’ commitment to Jesus, it required a difficult decision. First things first, Jesus reminds us in this passage.

Jesus expresses this choice by formulating three sentences, each using the term worthy. Worthiness is not based on high moral standards or even overcoming sin. Worthiness is based on one’s relationship with Jesus. We are worthy when we choose Him above everything else — including mother, father, or children. We choose the suffering of the cross and follow Jesus.

“I have no higher wish than to see our youth imbued with that spirit of pure religion which will lead them to take up the cross and follow Jesus. Go forth, young disciples of Christ, controlled by principle, clad in the robes of purity and righteousness. Your Saviour will guide you into the position best suited to your talents and where you can be most useful.” — Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 87.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Matthew 10:34-39, Luke 12:13-21, Philippians 2:5-8, Luke 22:14-30, Matthew 23:1-13.

Memory Text: “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice” (James 3:16).

Aspens are beautiful trees, reaching 45-90 feet (15-30 meters) in height. They thrive in cold climates with cool summers. Their wood is used in furniture and also for making matches and paper. Deer and other animals often feed on young aspen trees during hard winters as their bark contains many nutrients. Aspens need lots of sunshine, and they grow all the time — even in winter, making them important winter food sources for different animals.

Aspens, however, are most notorious for the fact that they have one of the largest root systems in the plant world. The roots spread by underground suckers and form a colony that can spread relatively quickly, covering large areas. Individual aspen trees can live up to 150 years, but the larger organism below the ground can live for thousands of years.

In this week’s study, we want to discover some of the roots of our restlessness. There are many things that can prevent us from finding true rest in Jesus. Some of these are obvious and don’t require much attention. Others may be less obvious to us and, as with to the huge aspen organism unseen beneath the ground, we may not always be conscious of the attitudes and actions that separate us from our Savior.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 17.

Sunday–>

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Impact of a Mission School

By Diana Fish

What kind of impact can a mission school have on a family?

Shima, which means “mother” in the Navajo language, heard about Holbrook Seventh-day Adventist Indian School about 40 years ago.

An elderly friend spoke very highly of Holbrook Seventh-day Adventist Indian School, located on the Navajo Reservation in the U.S. state of Arizona. “The school provides an excellent education to our Navajo children,” he said.

Shima enrolled five of her seven children at Holbrook Indian School.

Her eldest son learned how to weld and do other metal work at Holbrook Indian School. He loved working with metal and became a metalworker.

Shima’s second-eldest child, a girl, decided to go to an Adventist college after graduating from Holbrook. She studied nursing at Pacific Union College in California and works today as a nurse on the Navajo Reservation.

Shima did not send her two youngest children to Holbrook. She decided against it because she became unhappy with the school. One of her daughters, Nabaa, had some difficulties at the school, and the school ended up asking her to leave. Shima felt hurt that her daughter was not allowed to stay.

Nabaa not only had difficulties at Holbrook but also at every school she attended. She eventually graduated, went to college, and became a teacher. Nabaa is still teaching and a member of the Adventist Church today.

Nabaa must have forgiven Holbrook for dismissing her because she enrolled all three of her children at the school. Nabaa’s children, who are now young adults, have graduated from Holbrook and are doing well. One is a teacher and another is about to become a teacher. The third child is the wife of an Adventist pastor and is studying to become a teacher, too.

What happened to Shima’s two youngest children who never attended Holbrook? The Adventist influence of Holbrook still permeated their family, and both became Adventists. One teaches at an Adventist school today.

What kind of impact can a mission school have on a family? Holbrook Seventh-day Adventist Indian School has had a major impact on Shima’s family and many others on the Navajo Reservation and beyond.

Thank you for your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering three years ago that kickstarted plans on a new gym and health center called New Life Center at Holbrook Seventh-day Adventist Indian School. Your offering this quarter will help finish the second phase of the center, where the school will address high rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, depression, and suicide among Native American children and youth.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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Further Thought:

“Now they seemed sincerely to repent of their sinful conduct; but they sorrowed because of the result of their evil course rather than from a sense of their ingratitude and disobedience. When they found that the Lord did not relent in His decree, their self-will again arose, and they declared that they would not return into the wilderness.

Image @ Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

In commanding them to retire from the land of their enemies, God tested their apparent submission and proved that it was not real. They knew that they had deeply sinned in allowing their rash feelings to control them and in seeking to slay the spies who had urged them to obey God; but they were only terrified to find that they had made a fearful mistake, the consequences of which would prove disastrous to themselves. Their hearts were unchanged, and they only needed an excuse to occasion a similar outbreak. This presented itself when Moses, by the authority of God, commanded them to go back into the wilderness.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 391.

“But faith is in no sense allied to presumption. Only he who has true faith is secure against presumption. For presumption is Satan’s counterfeit of faith. Faith claims God’s promises, and brings forth fruit in obedience. Presumption also claims the promises, but uses them as Satan did, to excuse transgression. Faith would have led our first parents to trust the love of God, and to obey His commands. Presumption led them to transgress His law, believing that His great love would save them from the consequence of their sin. It is not faith that claims the favor of Heaven without complying with the conditions on which mercy is to be granted. Genuine faith has its foundation in the promises and provisions of the Scriptures.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 126.

Discussion Questions:

<–Thursday

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Support for the mission activities of the Seventh-day Adventist church has always been part of the Sabbath School program. This video is Mission Spotlight for this week.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umMFoJ7sSzA&w=560&h=315]

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